38 ^. ' We worship the memory of Ahura Mazda, to keep the Holy Word.
' We worship the understanding of Ahura Mazda, to study the Holy Word.
' We worship the tongue of Ahura Mazda, to speak forth the Holy W^ord.
' We worship the mountain that gives under- standing, that preserves understanding ; [we worship
* Cf. Yasna XXXI, 20 : 'He who would deceive the holy One, to him afterwards (will be) a long weeping in the dark place, bad food and words of insult. O wicked! this is the place down which your own conscience will bring you through your own deeds.'
"^ §§ 3l~3^i 39-40. 41-42 are separate fragments.
^ One of the first disciples of Zoroaster ; cf. Yt. XIII, 96.
* Cf. p. 33, note 2.
32 2 YA-STS AND SIROZAHS.
it] by day and by night, with offerings of Hbations well-accepted \
392. 'O Maker ! how do the souls of the dead, the Fravashis of the holy Ones, manifest^ themselves * ?'
40. Ahura Mazda answered: 'They manifest
themselves from goodness of spirit and excellence
of mind^.'
41^. Then towards the dawning of the dawn'', that
bird Par6dar5^ that bird Kareto-dasu^ hears the
voice of the F'ire.
1 §38=Yt. I, 31.
^ A Pahlavi translation of the following two fragments is found in MS. 33, Paris, Supplement Persan (edited in Etudes Iraniennes,II). 3 ^ithra (Paris MS. p. 255).
* ' How do they manifest their assistance ?' (Pahl. tr. ibid.); that is to say, when do they assist their relations and countrymen ? (see Yt. XIII, 49 seq.)
? When men are instinct with good spirit and good thought.
® The Pahlavi translation of this fragment has here §§ 14-16 of the Atash Nyayij, then §§ 18-19 of Vendidad XVIII. Therefore the whole passage is to be restored as follows :
Atar looks at the hands of all those who pass by : ' What does the friend bring to his friend ..,.?' (Atash N. 14.)
And if that passer-by brings him wood holily brought, or bundles of baresma holily tied up .... , then Atar .... will bless him thus :
May herds of oxen grow for thee .... (Atash N. 15-16).
In the first part of the night, Fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, calls the master of the house for help, saying :
' Up ! arise, thou master of the house . . . . ' (Vend. XVIII, 18-19).
* Then towards the dawning of the dawn . . . . ' (see the text). ' CfVend. XVIII, 23.
* 'He who has knowledge made,' or 'He who has the know-
ledge of what is made' (kartak danishn); his other name Paro-
dar.r is 'He who foresees.'
^ Here again a large passage is omitted : it can only partly be
Yast Xxii. 323
42. Here the fiendish Biishyasta, the long-handed,
rushes from the region of the north, from the
regions of the north, speaking thus, lying thus :
' Sleep on, O men ! Sleep on, O sinners ! Sleep
on and live in sin.'
supplied from the Pahlavi translation ; the words in brackets refer to Zend texts lost to us :
'Then he flaps his wings and lifts up his voice, saying: "Arise,
O men! [and also women, grown-up people, and children, &c
Put on well your girdle and shirt, wash your hands, put your girdle around your body, go and give food to the cattle and recite aloud the five holy Gathas of Spitama Zarathujtra."]
' Here the fiendish Bushyasta . . . / (see the text). Then the Pahlavi translation has : ' Never care for the three excellent things, good thoughts, good words, good deeds' (cf. Vend. XVIII, 25).
324 YASTS AND SIROZAHS.
xxiii-xxiv. AfrIn paighambar zar-
TIJST AND VI6TASP YA^'T.
'God taught the Zendavasta to Zartusht— a subUme work .... God said to Zartusht, "Go and before Shah Gushtasp read this book, that he may come into the faith .... keep all my counsel and repeat it word by word to Shah Gushtasp \'
Zartusht, in obedience to God, went to the court of Gushtasp : ' He came forward and called down a blessing on the Shah^.' Then he read to him the Zandavasta and said : ' Learn its statutes and walk therein. If your desire is towards its laws, your abode shall be in the paradise of heaven. But if you turn away from its command- ments, you shall bring down your crowned head to the dust. Your God will be displeased with you, and will overthrow your pros- perous condition. At the last you shall descend into hell, if you hear not the counsel of the Almighty ^'
These lines of the Zartusht-Namah are a summary of the following two Yajts. The first, entitled ' The blessing of the prophet Zartu^t,' contains the words of blessing addressed by Zarathujtra w^hen appearing before the king. These words seem to have followed a similar blessing pronounced by (Pamaspa ^ the prime minister of Vii-taspa ^
Ya^t XXIV contains the exhortations of the prophet to the king to follow and closely adhere to the Law of Mazda. It is a counterpart to the XlXth Fargard of the Vendidad, as Zarathu^-tra plays here the same part to Vijtaspa as Ahura does there to Zara- thujtra. It is, therefore, a summary of the Law, of the duties it
^ The Zartusht-Namah, translated by E. B. Eastwick, in Wilson's Parsi Religion, p. 495.
'^ Ibid. p. 499. ^ Ibid. p. 501.
* See Yt. XXIII, 2 ; whether Anquetil's staten.ent to that effect (Zend-Avesta II, 623) rests on independent tradition or only on the text of our Yajt is not clear.
'' See above, p. 70, note i.
Afrin Paighambar Zartu5t. 325
enforces and of the rewards it promises. This accounts for the strange disconnection apparent in it, which makes it a crux inter pre turn, as, besides the very corrupt state of the text, the chief difficulty of this Yart arises from the fact that many passages in it are incomplete quotations from the Vendidad, or allusions to statements therein \ which, when supplied, help a good deal to relieve this Yajt from its apparent state of utter incoherence.
For this translation I was able to avail myself of a Pahlavi trans- lation, of which a copy was kindly lent to me by Mr, West. That translation is apparently of late date and often manifestly wrong ; yet it was very useful to me in several passages, besides its giving a Zend text generally more correct and more correctly divided than the text in Westergaard's edition '^.
Ya^t XXIII was originally no independent Yajt, being nothing more than the beginning of Yaj-t XXIV, detached from it, with some slight alterations and inversions.
XXIII. AfrIn PAIGHAMBAR ZARTO^T.
1. *I am a pious man, who speaks words of
blessing.'
— ' Thou appearest unto me full of Glory.'
And Zarathiutra spake unto king Vi.rtaspa, say-
ino- : ' I bless thee, O man ! O lord of the country !
with the living of a good life, of an exalted life, of
a long life. May thy men live long! May thy
women live long ! May sons be born unto thee of
thy own body !
2. ' Mayest thou have a son like 6^imaspa, and
may he bless thee as (6^amaspa blessed) Vi^taspa
(the lord) of the country ^ !
* For instance, §§ 28, 30, 31, 39, &c.
2 The various readings in Mr. West's manuscript are indicated by the letter W. in the notes.
^ See the introduction to this Ya^t and Yt. XXIV, 3, text and note.
326 YA5TS AND SIROZAHS.
' Mayest thou be most beneficent, like Mazda ! ' Mayest thou be fiend-smiting, hke Thraetaona ^ ! 'Mayest thou be strong, Hke 6^amaspa ^ !
* Mayest thou be well-armed, like Takhma- Urupa ^ !
3. ' Mayest thou be glorious, like Yima Khshaeta, the good shepherd !
' Mayest thou be instructed with a thousand senses, like Azi Dahaka, of the evil law ^ !
' Mayest thou be awful and most strong, like Keresaspa ^ !
' Mayest thou be a wise chief of assemblies, like UrvakhshayaM
' Mayest thou be beautiful of body and without fault, like Syavarshana "^ !
4. ' Mayest thou be rich in cattle, like an Athwya- nide ^ !
' Mayest thou be rich in horses, like Pouru^-aspa ^ !
' Mayest thou be holy, like Zarathu^tra Spitama !
' Mayest thou be able to reach the Rangha, whose shores lie afar, as Vafra Navaza was ^^^ !
' Mayest thou be beloved by the gods and reve- renced by men " !
^ Cf. Yt. V, 33. 2 cf Yt. V, 68.
^ Cf. Yt. XV, II.
* Cf. Yt. V, 29. ^ Cf. Yt. V, 37.
« See Yt.XV, 28. '' See p. 64, note i.
* One belonging to the Athwya family, of which Thraetaona was a member. All of them bore names that show them to have been rich in cattle: Pur-tora, Sok-tora, Bor-tora, &c. ('one with abundant oxen, with useful oxen, with the brown ox, &c.,' Bundahij, tr.West, XXXI, 7, note 8).
® Pouruj^-aspa was the father of Zarathujtra. His name means, 'He who possesses many horses,' ivokv-nvnos.
'' Cf. Yt. V, 61. " Cf. Yt. XXIV, 4.
Afrin Paighambar Zartu^T. 327
5. ' May ten sons be born of you M In three of
them mayest thou be an Athravan ! In three of
them mayest thou be a warrior! In three of them
mayest thou be a tiller of the ground ^ ! And may
one be like thyself, O Vt^taspa !
6. ' Mayest thou be swift-horsed, like the Sun ^ !
* Mayest thou be resplendent, like the moon ! ' Mayest thou be hot-burning, like fire !
' Mayest thou have piercing rays, like Mithra !
' Mayest thou be tall-formed and victorious, like
the devout Sraosha ^ !
7. ' Mayest thou follow a law of truth, like Rashnu ^ !
' Mayest thou be a conqueror of thy foes, like Verethraghna ^ made by Ahura !
' Mayest thou have fulness of welfare, like Rama HvdiStvdi. '' !
* Mayest thou be freed from sickness and death, like king Husravah ^ !
8. 'Then the blessing goes for the bright, all- happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones ^
'May it happen unto thee according to my blessing !
'I'' Let us embrace and propagate the good thoughts,
good words, and good deeds that have been done
and that will be done here and elsewhere, that we
may be in the number of the good.
1 Of Vijtaspa and his wife Hutaosa.
2 Cf. Yt. XXIV, 4. ' Cf. Sirozah, § ri.
4 Cf. Yt. XI. ^ Cf. Yt. XII, Introduction.
« Cf! Yt. XIV. ' Cf. Yt. XV.
" Kai Khosrav went alive to Paradise (Firdausi).
' He closes his blessing by wishing him bliss in heaven,
10 Yasna XXXV, 2 (4-5).
'Yatha ahu vairyo: The will of the Lord is the law of holiness ....
'Ashem Vohu : Holiness is the best of all good ....
' [Give] unto that man brightness and glory, .... give him the bright, all-happy, blissful abode of the holy Ones.'
XXIV. vI^'tAsp ya^t.
1. ' I am a pious man, who speaks words of
blessing,' thus said Zarathurtra to the young king
Vi^taspa \ — ' She - appears to me full of Glory, O
Zarathunra !' — 'O young king Vi^-taspa ! [I bless
thee ^] with the living of a good life, of an exalted
life, of a long life. May thy men live long ! May
thy women live long ! May sons be born unto thee
of thy own body * !
2. 'Mayest thou thyself'' be holy, like Zarathurtra! 'Mayest thou be rich in cattle, like an Athwya-
nide ^ !
' Mayest thou be rich in horses, like Pourui'-aspa'^!
' Mayest thou have a good share of bliss ^ like king Husravah !
' Mayest thou have strength to reach the Rangha, whose way lies afar, as Vafra Navaza did ^.
^ Literally, O young king Vijtaspa ! (or, O my son, king Vijtaspa !)
2 The law of Mazda (Pahl.).
^ Understood in ahi-vakau (who speaks blessing).
* Cf.Yt. XXIII, I.
^ Khay^uj (=nafjm an) belongs to § 2 (W.).
* See p. 326, note 8. "^ See p. 326, note 9.
* Immortality (cf. Yt. XXIII, 7). W. has ashem merez6 = ahlayih patmanik, amargig (Pahl.).
« Cf. Yt. XXIII, 4.
Vwtasp Yast. 329
5. ' May ten sons be born of thy own body ^ ! three
as Athravans '\ three as warriors ^, three as tillers of
the ground ^ ! May one of them be like 6amaspa ^
that he may bless thee with great and ever greater
happiness ^ !
4. ' Mayest thou be freed from sickness and death, like Pesho-tanu '^.